It is believed that Balto-Finnic tribes such as Finnish, Karelians and Estonians have migrated to this part of Europe around 2000 years ago, moving the Sami tribe further north, where it still resides today.
From the 12th century Swedish settlers started to colonise Finland's coastal areas, and as a result Swedish is still spoken by communities in this part of Finland even today. Swedish influence expanded over the centuries and as Swedish was the prime language of commerce it started replacing Finnish except for the rural areas.
After decades of intermittent wars between Russia and Sweden, Finland became a Russian grand duchy in 1809. That same century marked the start of the Finnish national awakening, with the population finding a strong identity in the Finnish language and mythology. Elias Lönnrot wrote the Kalevala, which became the national epos and would later inspire Tolkien to write Lord of the Rings. By the end of the 19th century, the majority of the population had switched to Finnish as the prime language.
The Russian reaction was mixed with efforts of forced russification but also autonomy and democratisation. In 1860 Finland introduced its own currency, the Markka, and in 1906 universal suffrage was granted to all citizens, the first country in the world to do so.
World War I and the Russian Revolution brought the opportunity for Finlans to declare indepence, which it did in 1917. A civil war broke out between German-trained White nationalists and Bolshevik-backed Red communists. The Finnish Civil War left deep scars in Finnish society because of the many atrocities committed by both sides. By 1918 the Whites prevailed and managed to secure the borders with Bolshevist Russia.
Stalin was convinced that Leningrad was too close to the Finnish border and that a buffer zone was needed. In 1939 the USSR invaded Finland (Winter War) after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact had concluded the spheres of influence. Poor Russian taxtics and Finnish determination to defend the country resulted in massive Russian casualties and a front that was hardly moving. By 1940 Finnish resources were almost exhausted but a ceasefire was agreed in which Finland ceded Karelia to the USSR.
Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim, commander of the Whites, commander-in-chief during WW2 and sixth President of Finland
In 1941 Finland joined Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front recapturing Karelia and including parts of Karelia that had been Russian for centuries. The Finish general Mannerheim however decided not to attack Leningrad despite German requests to do so. German forces in northern Finland tried to capture Murmansk but failed. In 1944 the USSR started a large offensive against Finland but Finnish defence was again outnumbered but stiff. A peace deal resulted in Finland ceding Karelia again and declaring war on Nazi Germany. During this Lapland War the German troops set fire on almost every town in northern Finland as they retreated towards Norway.
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen, 8th President of Finland 1956-1982. Conservative, athletic, womaniser, heavy drinker and alleged ties with the KGB. His life story is intriguing.
As a result of WW2, Finland had to pay war reparations to the USSR and was severely limited in its foreign policy. Side effect was that industrialisation accelerated and the unique position of being the one of the few non-communist industrial countries to be able to trade with the USSR as well as with the West. Finland stayed out of NATO and it did not join the EU before 1995.
Matti Nykänen, Olympic ski jump champion, pop singer, porn actor, street-smart philosopher and ex-convict
With the USSR's collapse in 1991, the Finnish economy collapsed with it, resultkng in a severe economic depression. During this time a government committee came up with the idea that Nokia, a producer of consumer electronics, should focus on mobile phones. By 2000 Nokia was the largest company in Europe and Finland was famous for pulp, paper and phones.
The Great Recession, the demise of Nokia and slowing trade with Russia have put Finland in a more difficult position recently. There are still success stories however, such as Helsinki-based app game developer Supercell, which created best-selling apps Clash of Clans and Farmville. Angry Birds was also created in Finland.
Currency
Finland introduced the Markka in 1860, subdivided in 100 Penniä. It replaced the Ruble at a rate of 4 Markkaa per Ruble, therefore putting the Markka at par with the currencies of the Latin Monetary Union (LMU), such as the French and Swiss Francs.
After WW1 the LMU collapsed and the chaos atound independence and civil war eroded the value of the Markka. It was reset to 193 Mk/£, where it had been 25.22 Mk/£ before 1917. The Markka remained stable during the interwar period.
World War 2 and its aftermath caused large budget deficits which resulted in further devaluations to finance the war effort and reparations. The Dollar exchange rate reached 120Mk/$ in 1945 and 320 Mk/$ in 1957. In 1963 the Markka was redenominated at 100:1, and again devalued to 4.2 Mk/$ in 1967. Decades of exchange rate stability followed, but in the early 1990's the Finnish economic crisis again lowered the Markka's value, especially against Deutschmarks and Swiss Francs. In 1999 the Markka was replaced by Euro at a rate of 5.94573 Mk/€.
Coins
Finnish coin history is relatively short for European standards. Until 1917 Finnish coins followed LMU specifications. The bronze 1, 5 and 10 Penniä feature the monogram of the Russisn czar (Finnish Grand Duke) of the time. In 1917, after the February Revolution, uncrowned Russian eagles were shown on Finnish coins.
After independence no silver was used for quite some time. Coins with denominations up to 20 Markkaa circulated, which had a value of around 2 Shillings or $0.50 in those days, but was made of aluminium-bronze. During WW2 some of the compositions were changed due to metal shortages.
In 1952 a new coin series reflected the large inflation at a time. To gain trust, silver was reintroduced, this time in high denominations of 100 and 200 Markkaa.
In 1963 the New Markkaa replaced the old one and the coins were updated. Low-grade silver was used for a few years in the 1 Markka coin but soon replaced by base metal. 5 Markkaa coins were added in 1972. The last Markka series was introduced in 1993.
In 2002 Euro coins were introduced and from the start Finland decided to not use 1c and 2c, leading to a small short squeeze among Eurocoin collectors rushing to get their sets complete. Eventually these did not turn out to be great investments, but some Finnish commemorative €2 coins did as mintage was limited compared to demand.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/finlande-1.html
